Adapt and Overcome (The Maxwell Saga) Read Online Free

it through the doors, going to an auxiliary security panel bolted to a metal upright. The doors began to slide closed again as the warehouse lights came on.
    Steve pulled on the gray utility coveralls he’d laid ready on the top bunk, fingers fumbling with the fasteners. He slipped his feet into the athletic shoes he’d worn after his shower the previous evening, then closed their hook-and-loop straps. His mind was racing. Who the hell would be coming in here like this, particularly at this time of the morning? Only AIU is supposed to have access to this place, and that’s not one of our vehicles.
    He eased open the door to his sleeping compartment, blessing the fact that the trailer had been parked against one wall of the warehouse, out of the way. Its doors faced the wall, allowing him to move undetected. He stepped down to the plascrete floor and moved cautiously along the trailer until he could peer around the rear of the vehicle.
    Three men were standing next to the van, with the fourth moving to join them from the security panel. Three wore Service Corps coveralls, but the fourth was in working uniform, silver officers’ insignia glittering on his collar. They were too far away for Steve to make out his rank, or hear what the men were saying. The officer was clearly giving instructions, pointing to various pieces of wreckage. The others were nodding as they listened. When he’d finished, each took a toolbox from inside the van and headed for a different item.
    Steve’s mind raced. They’ve got no right to be here, and even less right to do anything with the wreckage! I’d better get help, fast – but how? From whom?
    He stepped back behind the trailer as a thought struck him, then climbed back into his compartment, moving as quietly as before, and closed the door behind him. Picking up his comm unit, he placed a call. The ringing tone went on for quite a while before a tired, irritated voice answered.
    “Bullard here – and you’d better have a real good reason to be waking me at this ungodly hour of the morning!”
    “Sir, Lieutenant Maxwell here.” Steve spoke in a muted whisper, urgently explaining where he was, why he’d stayed at the warehouse that night, and what had just woken him. He peered through the small window. “The three men in coveralls are wiping different bits of wreckage with what looks like pieces of cloth, then putting each one in some sort of container – they look like glass tubes. The officer is standing by the van watching them – no, one of them has just raised his hand. He’s walking over to join him.”
    Bullard had come fully awake as he listened. “Lieutenant, whoever they are, they’ve got no right to be there at all! Thank God you were there to detect them. If they have the code to the security system, they may also have shut off the sensor turrets, but you’re an eyewitness, so that won’t help them. I’ll call the compound’s front gate right away, and have them dispatch the internal security patrol to your location. I’ll also have Captain Ratisbon alert the Bureau of Security. Heaven only knows what’s going on there, but I intend to find out! Terminate this call, but keep your comm unit on you. I’ll tell the front gate you’re in there. On my authority, if those four men try to leave you’re to do anything you can to keep them there until help arrives.”
    “Aye aye, Sir.”
    Steve crept to the rear of the trailer again, peering around the corner. The men were still busy, but the officer suddenly raised his head, cocking it as if listening to a distant voice; then he whirled around.
    “A security patrol’s on the way! Back to the van with your samples, quick as you can!”
    His voice rang out loudly, clearly audible to Steve even at that distance. They must have someone watching the compound , he realized at once. He must have radioed a warning that the guards were heading this way.
    He watched in agonized frustration as the men in coveralls grabbed